Life Coaching Fees

Money.

It’s an intense, emotional topic for most of us, especially when we’re thinking about paying a lot of it to someone for a few conversations a month. In this article, we’ll look at some key questions about life coaching fees, starting with the one that’s at the top of everyone’s list:

How much?

Generally speaking, life coaching isn’t cheap. There’s no way to get accurate statistics about this, but coaches commonly charge in the range of $50 – $250 per session. At two to four sessions a month, you’re looking at paying $100 – $1,000 a month to work with a life coach, though there are coaches who fall outside of this range on both ends.

Some new coaches, for example, will work for free or very little while they hone their skills.

Coaches who specialize tend to charge higher fees, especially coaches who help people make more money, like executive, career, and business coaches. It’s not unusual for executive coaches to charge $2,000 a month or more, and some high-end business coaches charge $10,000 or more a month. (Yep. A month.)

Higher fees often come with perqs like round-the-clock access to the coach and in-person workshops.

Judging a coach by her fees

It may seem like the coaches who charge more are more talented, but that’s not necessarily the case. Coaches set their own fees, and the process is tangled up with emotional, self-worth, philosophical, and ethical questions.

A coach’s fees may be more of a reflection of her talent as a marketer than her talent as a coach. So it’s not safe to assume a coach who charges high fees is highly talented or that a coach who charges low fees isn’t.

Paying overly high fees or going into debt to pay for coaching

Some coaches use slick marketing to try to convince you to pay their extremely high fees, even if that means that you have to go into debt to do it. They’ll help you make the money back and a lot more to boot, they argue, so it’s a great deal for you.

If you feel uncomfortable when you’re exposed to this, you have good reason. Though these coaches may imply that their results are guaranteed, generally, that’s far from the case.

What if the coach pressures you to sign up right away?

Some coaches will try to push you to sign up for your first month of coaching during your free initial consultation with them. These coaches may offer discounts or other inducements to put pressure on you to agree on the spot.

My suggestion: ignore those high-pressure tactics (and be somewhat wary of the coaches who use them). Take all the time you want. When you’re comfortable with your decision to work with a certain coach and you can afford her fees, you’ll move forward with coaching.